1. APRSAF-26 Updates

1) First Announcement of APRSAF-26 Released

The first announcement of the 26th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-26) has been released. APRSAF-26 will be held from November 26-29, 2019, in Nagoya, Japan, under the theme "Advancing Diverse Links Toward a New Space Era." The meeting will be organized jointly by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Based on the main theme, new panel sessions are to be held to stimulate cooperation and links among diverse players such as "space agencies × space industries" and "space agencies × young generations."
For further information about APRSAF-26, and to download the PDF file of the first announcement, please visit the APRSAF website at:http://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf26/meeting_details.php

Please note that the APRSAF will be collecting registration fees from participants attending APRSAF-26 to make the APRSAF a sustainable forum. More information on registration fees will be released in the second announcement.

2． News on APRSAF Activities

1) SAFE Workshop to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on June 25

The Space Applications For Environment (SAFE) will hold the SAFE Workshop on June 25 in the Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC)/Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam.
First Announcement: SAFE Workshop, Hanoi, Vietnam, June 2019:https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/SAFE/news_event/2019/safe_ws_vnm/

The APRSAF Secretariat and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) will co-organize the 2nd Inter-Regional Space Policy Dialogue between Asia-Pacific and European countries on the occasion of the 62nd session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), to promote understanding of national space policy in both regions. The 2nd Dialogue will consist of two parts.

Part 1 is the Space Policy Practitioners Workshop to be held on June 15, 2019, at ESPI premises, Vienna, Austria. The Workshop aims to provide the opportunity to exchange information and mutually learn about experiences regarding the development and implementation of space policies among participants from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The Workshop will feature several presentations by experts from both regions and a roundtable exchange on the recent developments and different approaches to space policies. The participants of this closed workshop are invited government/space agency officials from the Asia-pacific and European region who will be in Vienna to attend the COPUOS meeting. Officials from Asia-Pacific countries who would like to attend the Workshop are kindly requested to contact the APRSAF Secretariat by e-mail (secretariataprsaf.org) by 7 June 2019. Please note that due to limited seating capacity, it may not be able to accommodate all requests.

Part 2 will be the official side event of the UNCOPUOS to be held on June 19, 2019, at the Board Room D, Building C of the Vienna International Centre. There will be a panel discussion between space policy experts from both regions exchanging their views on innovation and partnership for enhancing national space capability. All UNCOPUOS attendees are welcomed to attend the side event.

3. News from APRSAF Community

1) Malaysian Government Creates MYSA after Reorganizing and Consolidating ANGKASA and MRSA

On March 4, the Malaysian government - the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC) - announced that MESTECC was creating the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) after reorganizing and consolidating the National Space Agency (ANGKASA) and the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (MRSA). The establishment of MYSA was approved by a government cabinet council held on February 20, 2019. The reorganization and consolidation work will take six months.
The Malaysian government aims to provide efficient space services, minimizing duplication of government functions and roles, after optimizing existing resources and facilities of ANGKASA and MRSA. Under the National Space Policy, MYSA will focus on space technology, infrastructure and utilization, particularly in the areas of satellite remote sensing, communication and positioning.

2) UAE Space Agency Announces Creation of Arab Space Coordination Group and Development Plan for the 813 Satellite

On March 21, the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) announced at the Global Space Congress, which was being held in Abu Dhabi, the creation of the first Arab Space Coordination Group and the development plan of 813, an advanced satellite to monitor the Earth, the environment and the climate.

According to the announcement, 11 countries including the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Sudan have signed the agreement. Engineers and scientists from all 11 countries will design and manufacture a multispectral satellite to monitor the Earth and measure the environmental and climatic elements, as well as vegetation, soil types, minerals and water sources, and also to record greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and dust levels.

The new satellite will be funded by the UAESA and will be developed by Arab engineers at the National Space Science and Technology Center at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. The development of the satellite will take three years and when completed it will have a lifespan of about five years. The satellite will have a polar orbit of 600 km.

The data will be sent to a ground station in the UAE and receiving stations in some other Arab countries.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) separated the SCI (Small Carry-on Impactor), which had been onboard the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, on April 5, 2019, for deployment to Ryugu, and then put the SCI into operation.
As a result of checking the images captured by the Optical Navigation Camera-Telescopic (ONC-T) onboard the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, JAXA has concluded that a crater was created by the SCI.

On April 17, the Cygnus spacecraft was successfully launched by a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket to the International Space Station (ISS), from Pad-0A, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. On April 19, the Cygnus spacecraft was berthed onto the ISS. Cygnus carries NepaliSat-1 (Nepal), Raavana-1 (Sri Lanka), and Uguisu (Japan) as BIRDS-3 CubeSats, developed under the BIRDS project led by the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech). They will be deployed around May to June from the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo.